Protecting shield for tool handles



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mwfl W mm A. H. BELMONT PROTECTING SHIELD FOR TOOL HANDLES Filed Jan. 9, 193-5 Egg" 1 INVIENTOR A Mfighmwmfl ATTORNE Patented Apr. 7, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFlCE one-half to John E. Ebert, Marysville, Calif.

Application January 9, 1935, Serial No. 9'74 1 Claim.

This invention relates to hand implements, and particularly to implements of that type having wooden handles such as hammers, hatchets, axes, etc.

The principal object of my invention is to provide a shield or protector adapted to be mounted on the handle of an implement adjacent the head of the same which will prevent the adjacent portion of the Wood from splintering or chipping off as is frequently the case, so that my shield thus braces the wood against this weakening action which tends to cause the same to fracture and the handle to snap off near the headan occurrence fraught with danger, as is Well known.

A further object of the invention is to pro duce a simple and inexpensive device and yet one which will be exceedingly effective for the purpose for which it is designed.

These objects I accomplish by means of such structure and relative arrangement of parts as will fully appear by a perusal of the following specification and claim.

In the drawing similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several views:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a conventional ax showing my improved shield or protector mounted thereon.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary vertical section on the line 22 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a view of the shield as in its initial outstretched or blank form.

Referring now more particularly to the characters of reference on the drawing, the shield comprises a rectangular body I, made of thin bendable but strong sheet metal and of a length sufficient to surround that portion 2 of the implement handle 3 which lies immediately under the head 4 of the implement. Tapering tongues 5 are formed with the body and project from the side or end edges of the same in opposed relation at the top and bottom. The end portions of these tongues, when the body is engaged about a handle and the tongues are bent to overlap the adjacent portions of the body, are adapted to project through vertical slits 5 cut and properly positioned in the body with re spect to the corresponding tongues.

A pair of prongs 1 depends from the bottom edge of the body in position to lie on opposite sides of the handle when the body is engaged with the same; said prongs being sharp pointed and the points being adapted to be bent inwardly and sunk into the handle, as shown at 6 in Figure 2.

slits.

In this connection, it will of course be understood that the metal is of a substantially non-resilient character, so that when once bent and flattened about the handle, there is no tendency for it to unbend. At the same time the body is independently held from longitudinal movement on the handle by the engagement of the prong points with the wood of the handle. The portion of the handle adjacent the head and which is the most essential to protect against the liability of fracture is thus completely enclosed and the possibility of any portion of the wood splintering off is eliminated, and the likelihood of fracturing or snapping of the handle in the zone of the shield is very greatly reduced.

From the foregoing description it will be readily seen that I have produced such a device as substantially fulfills the objects of the invention as set forth herein.

While this specification sets forth in detail the present and preferred construction of the device, still in practice such deviations from such detail may be resorted to as do not form a departure from the spirit of the invention, as defined by the appended claim.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and useful and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

A shield for wooden implement handles com: prising a body of thin bendable but substantially non-resilient sheet metal adapted to be bent to surround a handle under the head of the implement so that the ends of the body lie adjacent each other in non-overlapping relation, means integral with the body for engagement with the wood of the handle to hold the body against longitudinal movement on the handle, and fiat tongues projecting laterally from the ends of the body in vertically staggered relation to overlap the adjacent portions of the body when the same is bent about the handle; the body having vertical slits adjacent its ends to receive the ends of the corresponding tongues therethrough so that the end portions of the tongues will be enclosed and disposed in parallel relation to and between the wood and the metal of the body.

ARTHUR H. BELMONT. 

